I don't know anything about racing but I do know about the douchebags in my neighborhood who took the mufflers out of their cars or something to make them super loud. I sound like a "get off my lawn" guy but it's farking obnoxious.

i was at monaco in '96 - my first F1 race. some hawt lady came by selling overpriced williams-branded earplugs. i laughed and said no! (i'd been to many an indy car race at elkhart lake and knew what i was doing!). well after the first pass of those open-header V10s revving at 16,000 rpm and echoing off the buildings, i went and flagged her down and gladly forked over my $10 or whatever it was for those shiatty earplugs. well worth it.

I know it's kind of silly and I certainly sympathize with Therion, but I really miss that old F1 whine. It's like, I don't know, sex with a rubber. An acoustic set by Megadeth. Light beer. It's still sex, it's still Megadeth, it's still...something kind of like beer. But it's not as good.

It isnt that they arent loud enough. Its that there are now turbochargers that the exhaust gasses travel through. Turbo charged motors never sound good. They run really really good but they sound likehammered dog crap and theres nothing you can do for it. If you make them louder it will just sound like hammered dog crap with loud dog farts.. All you could really do is quiet them down to a whisper and play pre recorded sounds from motors with open exhausts.

Heh if you want sound just go to Bristol or Martinsville. You can barely hear the person next to you on caution laps, on green flag laps you better be good at sign language, lip reading or have the scanner headphones with the mic. 1/2 mile tracks in bowls with aluminum stands are good if you want to hear car noise for a few hours.

Mugato:I don't know anything about racing but I do know about the douchebags in my neighborhood who took the mufflers out of their cars or something to make them super loud. I sound like a "get off my lawn" guy but it's farking obnoxious.

What's funny, is as I understand it, most modern engines use pressure from the exhaust to do at least some of the work closing the valves(Or something similar), so that removing the muffler entirely can reduce performance. I just hate when they put the goddam grapefruit launchers on there.

Pros: F1 races on street courses and forces drivers to make turns that are well past 90 degrees. Global phenomenon. NASCAR encourages their drivers to pass each other and even "likes" the bumping that goes on between the cars.

Cons: F1 seems to actively discourage passing during races, meaning that qualifying matters a hell of a lot more than the race does. Very restrictive on what is allowed. Sponser driven. NASCAR runs most of their races on oval tracks that don't really leave much to the imagination. Local heros. Very restrictive on what is allowed. Sponser driven.

Notes: I'd love to see the best of both sports combined into a more watchable automotive race. A global race circuit that encourages hard driving on a plethora of track types. I know that NASCAR has two road races a year. I also know that the oval racing is really hard to do and some teams bring in special road course drivers for the two road races. A race circuit that doesn't have restrictions on what a team can do could lead to a top heavy leaderboard with the rich guys always at the top. However if the rich guy wrecks his race is over regardless of how much money he has, hence the hard driving. Encourage sponsers to drop tons of money into R&D for the race teams to see who's engines, tires, fuel etc... are really the best. I don't care which car type is used, open wheel or closed, just so long as a free market hard driving competition is the outcome.

Yup, it was the car noise on the TV that really bothered me in Australia. The excitement of new drivers at the front, watching F1 cars sideways at times, some good passing....that was all ruined by the quieter racecar sound.

People think this isn't an issue, but it really takes away from the experience if you're a long time fan. We have Focus Midgets at one of the local tracks, and the anemic exhaust noise hides the fact that its a wonderful class.

balfourk:Pros: F1 races on street courses and forces drivers to make turns that are well past 90 degrees. Global phenomenon. NASCAR encourages their drivers to pass each other and even "likes" the bumping that goes on between the cars.

Cons: F1 seems to actively discourage passing during races, meaning that qualifying matters a hell of a lot more than the race does. Very restrictive on what is allowed. Sponser driven. NASCAR runs most of their races on oval tracks that don't really leave much to the imagination. Local heros. Very restrictive on what is allowed. Sponser driven.

Notes: I'd love to see the best of both sports combined into a more watchable automotive race. A global race circuit that encourages hard driving on a plethora of track types. I know that NASCAR has two road races a year. I also know that the oval racing is really hard to do and some teams bring in special road course drivers for the two road races. A race circuit that doesn't have restrictions on what a team can do could lead to a top heavy leaderboard with the rich guys always at the top. However if the rich guy wrecks his race is over regardless of how much money he has, hence the hard driving. Encourage sponsers to drop tons of money into R&D for the race teams to see who's engines, tires, fuel etc... are really the best. I don't care which car type is used, open wheel or closed, just so long as a free market hard driving competition is the outcome.

Here's something to think about then...

Indycar races on road, street (yes, there's a difference) short and long oval. Yes, it's a "spec" series, but it has some of the best racing you can find on a national broadcast. Definitely the most varied tracks. Tons of passing. Rarely has a parade or the NASCAR trick of surviving the first 95% of the event and then racing for five laps.

Tudor United Sports Car Series, or IMSA is entertaining as hell. I encourage everyone to check it out.

NASCAR rarely has road course ringers anymore. The cars are more suited to short tracks and road courses than the 1.5 mile tracks that make up the bulk of the schedule.

That hasn't been the case for a few seasons now. And with the new engines, this last Sunday there was passing all over the place. Once everyone gets the new engines sorted out, the teams are still figuring them out, things are going to get real fun when it comes to passing.

crotchgrabber:balfourk: Pros: F1 races on street courses and forces drivers to make turns that are well past 90 degrees. Global phenomenon. NASCAR encourages their drivers to pass each other and even "likes" the bumping that goes on between the cars.

Cons: F1 seems to actively discourage passing during races, meaning that qualifying matters a hell of a lot more than the race does. Very restrictive on what is allowed. Sponser driven. NASCAR runs most of their races on oval tracks that don't really leave much to the imagination. Local heros. Very restrictive on what is allowed. Sponser driven.

Notes: I'd love to see the best of both sports combined into a more watchable automotive race. A global race circuit that encourages hard driving on a plethora of track types. I know that NASCAR has two road races a year. I also know that the oval racing is really hard to do and some teams bring in special road course drivers for the two road races. A race circuit that doesn't have restrictions on what a team can do could lead to a top heavy leaderboard with the rich guys always at the top. However if the rich guy wrecks his race is over regardless of how much money he has, hence the hard driving. Encourage sponsers to drop tons of money into R&D for the race teams to see who's engines, tires, fuel etc... are really the best. I don't care which car type is used, open wheel or closed, just so long as a free market hard driving competition is the outcome.

Here's something to think about then...

Indycar races on road, street (yes, there's a difference) short and long oval. Yes, it's a "spec" series, but it has some of the best racing you can find on a national broadcast. Definitely the most varied tracks. Tons of passing. Rarely has a parade or the NASCAR trick of surviving the first 95% of the event and then racing for five laps.

Tudor United Sports Car Series, or IMSA is entertaining as hell. I encourage everyone to check it out.

NASCAR rarely has road course ringers a ...

If you're in the northeast, check out some of the ISMA races. Supermodifieds, the best of both worlds. Open wheel, no transmission - direct drive, big block V8s, wings for downforce, short tracks, and insane drivers.

So after approximately three legitimate passes under racing conditions on the course in F1 this week (where the car being passed didn't just run off the track or pit for tyres or have a compromised motor) do you think we might have as many as 4 or even 5 passes during next weeks race? That may overexcite longtime F! connoisseurs to the point of harming their health.

mikaloyd:So after approximately three legitimate passes under racing conditions on the course in F1 this week (where the car being passed didn't just run off the track or pit for tyres or have a compromised motor) do you think we might have as many as 4 or even 5 passes during next weeks race? That may overexcite longtime F! connoisseurs to the point of harming their health.

Notes: I'd love to see the best of both sports combined into a more watchable automotive race. A global race circuit that encourages hard driving on a plethora of track types. I know that NASCAR has two road races a year. I also know that the oval racing is really hard to do and some teams bring in special road course drivers for the two road races. A race circuit that doesn't have restrictions on what a team can do could lead to a top heavy leaderboard with the rich guys always at the top. However if the rich guy wrecks his race is over regardless of how much money he has, hence the hard driving. Encourage sponsers to drop tons of money into R&D for the race teams to see who's engines, tires, fuel etc... are really the best. I don't care which car type is used, open wheel or closed, just so long as a free market hard driving competition is the outcome.

Yeah, being able to hear the crowd in qualifying was fantastic also. Oh, the guy that all of Australia hates fails to make the pole shootout? Huge roar! Hometown hero hits 2nd? Bigger roar. Really great.

The cars sound a little... weird, but we'll get used to it. I never liked the old sound that much anyway, it doesn't sound like an engine. I much preferred the '60s/'70s low-revving grunty DFVs.